Ireland, Dan

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

The talented indie director Dan Ireland (The Whole Wide World, ) brings his deft, intimate touch to a lovely tale of family--and how to build one. Joan Plowright is Mrs. Palfrey, a genteel widow who moves to London to start her life anew, and to be less of a burden to her daughter. When she arrives at the dowdy Claremont Hotel, which is not quite the picture of loveliness it was in the brochure, Plowright delivers Mrs. P's quick assessment--"Oh, dear"--with a spot-on mix of fleeting disappointment and stiff-upper-lip-itude. As she settles in among the oddball residents of the hotel, her life appears to be heading into a slow, downward decline. But when she meets young aspiring writer Ludovic (the adorable British actor Rupert Friend), Mrs. P--and we--learns that real family ties can be chosen, not inherited. The storyline is familiar and simple, with echoes of Tuesdays with Morrie, but the intimacy portrayed by the two lead actors brings surprising layers and emotion to the film, which envelopes the viewer like a cozy shawl. Extras include an excellent commentary with Ireland and producer Zachary Matz, Plowright's acceptance speech for an AARP award for her role in the film, and photo galleries. --A.T. Hurley

Oscar-nominated actress Joan Plowright is the titular Mrs. Palfrey in this heartwarming comedy. When an elderly Scottish widow moves to London she finds the big city less welcoming than she expected. Mrs. Palfrey is disheartened when her nephew doesn't return her calls. But when a young man (Rupert Friend) helps her after a fall she discovers that the metropolis may not be as lonely as it first appeared. Though Plowright has made a career out of playing strong supporting roles she easily makes the transition to leading lady in this film.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/GENERATION GAP UPC: 798622343826 Manufacturer No: WLV3438

The Whole Wide World

Director Dan Ireland shows a talent for authenticity with this heartbreaking love story based on Novalyne Price's 1988 account of her prickly romance with 1930s pulp-fiction writer Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian. She was a schoolteacher in a small Texas town; he was the odd-ball writer who lived at home and created comic-book characters that were sexier and more violent than was considered decent by the locals. Renée Zellweger's performance is a gem of sweet unconventionality matched by Vincent D'Onofrio's powerful show of eccentricity and increasing mental illness. Though smart and feisty, this leaves us wishing the filmmakers had dug deeper into Howard's unusual relationship with his manipulative mother. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Driven by the electrifying performances of Vincent D'Onofrio (TV's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent") and Ren e Zellweger (Chicago Bridget Jones's Diary) THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD is the touching true story of the star-crossed love between writer Robert Howard and schoolteacher Novalyne Price. The creator of Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja Howard was a small-town writer with an insatiable appetite for larger-than-life heroism and fantasy. Shunned by the prudish locals he was befriended by a feisty young teacher who offered him an unforgettable chance at love.System Requirements:Running Time: 106 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG UPC: 043396100459 Manufacturer No: 10045

The Outer Limits (The New Series) - Sex & Science Fiction

MGM is grouping episodes from the new Outer Limits anthology series by theme rather than chronology for DVD, and this first collection compiles six episodes that focus on matters of the heart (and other body parts). Alyssa Milano's nude scene in "Caught in the Act" will probably garner the most attention, but the disc's strongest hour is "The Human Operators," a thoughtful, award-winning take on man vs. machine that's adapted from a story by science fiction legends Harlan Ellison and A.E. van Vogt. This reworking of the 1963-1965 science fiction series is competent but lacks the palpable suspense of the original series. Also, there's no sense of new ground being broken with its stories; the original series took risks with its parables on war ("Soldier") and technology ("O.B.I.T."). The new Limits also tackles issues, but the end results pack a lesser punch. Hardcore sci-fi fans may take to this tempered-down version; all others will find it mildly diverting. --Paul Gaita

Caught in the Act:Hannah Valesic (Alyssa Milano) has a killer body...literally! When the formerly chaste beauty is taken over by a sinister force, her appetite for men becomes insatiable ? and murderous! Can her loving boyfriend put an end to her killing spree?Bits of Love:Earth's sole survivor, artist Aiden Hunter (Jon Tenney), has created a beautiful hologram, Emma (Natasha Henstridge), for companionship. But when Emma expresses an urgent desire for a baby, will she sever his cord to reality?Valerie 23:Can a little jealously be a good thing? Not for Rachel Rose (Nancy Allen), a physical therapist whose life is threatened when she comes between her paraplegic patient and his amorous robotic companion who is programmed to remove any obstacle that stands in her way.The Human Operators:Like other Star Fleet vessels, Ship (voice of Malcolm McDowell) has evolved and now controls the only human (Jack Noseworthy) aboard. But the relationship takes a dramatic turn when man fights machine in a desperate bid for freedom!Skin Deep:When a prototype image enhancer allows Sid Camden to transform himself into a handsome co-worker (Antonio Sabato, Jr.), he quickly begins enjoying the life his average looks denied him. But he soon discovers there's more to his new reflection than meets the eye.Flower Child:Alien plant life arrives on Earth, blossoming into the form of a beautiful woman who roots herself into the lives of Chris (Jeremy London) and his fiancée. But if Chris allows this new love to bloom, will he plant the seed for her species to rule the planet?

The Velocity of Gary

In the underground culture of New York City Valentino (Vincent d'Onofrio) is a bisexual adult film star torn apart by two loves: tempestuous waitress Mary (Academy Award nominee Salma Hayek "Frida") and hunky street hustler Gary (Thomas Jane). Neither of them can stand the other but when Val is diagnosed with AIDS the two must put aside their differences and become strong for the man they love. Together the three of them will explore life love and the true meaning of family.System Requirements:Running Time: 101 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: R UPC: 043396037632 Manufacturer No: 03763

Life in New York City, apparently, ain't what it used to be. In director Dan Ireland's "slice of life," Vincent D'Onofrio is a former porn star named Valentino (how's that for subtle metaphor?) who is slowly dying of AIDS. That's the least of your worries. He's also one third of a symbiotic ménage à trois that includes waitress girlfriend Mary Carmen (an obnoxious Salma Hayek) and fetishistic gigolo boyfriend Gary (Thomas Jane, strutting like Madonna on valium). The movie comes across like some Midwestern housewife's salacious idea of what life is like "on the edge"--teeming with drugs, wild dancing, and drag queens. There's even a deaf, transgendered, Patsy Cline-wannabe who, no kidding, gets hit by a car while trying to call for an ambulance. Ireland and screenwriter James Still make such an embarrassing show of being outrageous that it's almost offensive; everybody is so busy being dangerously fabulous that nobody is even remotely human. --Steve Wiecking

The Outer Limits (The New Series) - Mutation & Transformation Collection

1. "The New Breed"A man dying of cancer (Peter Outerbridge) asks his scientist friend (Richard Thomas) to use experimental microscopic robots to cure him. The trial is successful ? too successful ? when the super 'bots try to create a superhuman!2. "Descent"A meek anthropologist develops a serum for genetic dominance and rashly tests the substance on himself! Now his newfound confidence takes complete control of him, turning him into an irrational, overly aggressive Neanderthal!3. "The Joining"Capt. Davidow (C. Thomas Howell), the lone survivor from a transport crash on Venus, isn't feeling too well back on Earth. His doctor is shocked when he finds that Davidow has become host to creatures that replicate when exposed to high levels of radiation.4. "Double Helix"Brilliant geneticist Martin Nodel (Ron Rifkin) unlocks a secret code imprinted on human DNA. But when he tests this code on himself, newfound "instincts" draw him to a remote location where he finds a spacecraft ? his link to another world.5. "The Gun"Known criminal Matthew Logan buys an "out-of-this-world" gun from a mysterious man. But with each shot fired, the weapon attaches itself to Logan's arm with alien tentacles. Can he free himself from this menace, or will he literally become a killing machine?6. "The Inheritors"When three strangers are hit on the head with meteor fragments, they embark on a mission to bring the elderly and terminally ill to another planet for reanimation. Should their plan be foiled, or is it a benevolent gift to the dying?

The Outer Limits (The New Series) - Time Travel & Infinity

The consequences of time travel are the thematic framework for this compilation of episodes from the revamped Outer Limits anthology series, produced for the Showtime network. The six stories compiled here are indicative of the new version's competent but uneventful nature; scripting, performances, and direction (all hampered by the program's low budget) rarely live up to the plots' potential or the drama and suspense of the original series. Amanda Plummer's Emmy-winning turn as a scientist who travels 50 years into the past to commit a murder in the Season Two episode "A Stitch in Time" is the highlight of the disc; the rest (culled from the series' seven-season run) offer well-worn variations on time travel themes. The full-frame disc includes "The Outer Limits Story," which offers talking-head interviews with executive producers Pen Densham and Mark Stern, as well as featurettes on each episode. --Paul Gaita

A Stitch in Time:Fingerprints from a murder committed 50 years ago match those of a controversial brain researcher (Amanda Plummer). But she has the perfect alibi ? she was only in kindergarten at the time! When an FBI agent discovers the astonishing truth, will past and present collide?Tribunal:An attorney obsessed with his father's treatment in a concentration camp has finally discovered the identity of the Nazi responsible for his imprisonment. But without proper evidence ? or a direct link to the past ? will he be able to bring this homicidal man to justice in the present?Gettysburg:Two friends re-enacting the Battle of Gettysburg unwittingly find themselves transported back in time and taken prisoner by a deranged Confederate colonel (Meatloaf) who might not only endanger their future...but the future of the country as well!Time to Time:A history major can't believe that she's been recruited as part of a time-travel team...until they send her back to a crucial turning point in her life. But will she alter history by trying to change her traumatic past...or prove her worthiness by making the ultimate sacrifice?Déjà Vu:Dr. Mark Crest (Kevin Nealon) is in charge of a military experiment transporting test animals through time. But when something goes terribly wrong and events begin to repeat themselves, Crest is the only one who can stop it...before time itself runs out for good!Patient Zero:A deadly plague will wipe out civilization unless Becket (Michael Rooker) can go back in time and find the one person who started the outbreak to prevent the epidemic. Is it a shot in the dark or can he contain the virus before it spreads throughout the world?

The Outer Limits (The New Series) - Aliens Among Us Collection

1. "Quality of Mercy"On a remote planet, Major Skokes (Robert Patrick) has been captured by aliens and placed in a cell. His cellmate is a woman who is slowly being transformed into a hideous creature. Can he escape before a similar fate befalls him?2. "Afterlife"A convicted killer (Clancy Brown) is given a choice between dying by lethal injection or becoming part of a secret military experiment. He soon regrets choosing life when he discovers he's slowly and painfully turning into an alien life form!3. "The Grell"Rescued from their dying planet, the Grell had come to Earth not as equals but as slaves. Now, an uprising has gripped the world in fear and a high-ranking government leader (Ted Shackelford), who is lost in Grell territory, experiences firsthand the ugly face of racism.4. "Relativity Theory"An Earth survey team headed by Teresa Janovitch (Melissa Gilbert) has landed on a remote planet in search of new resources. Encountering a seemingly hostile group of aliens, the team kills them to take back home...and unwittingly triggers an interstellar war!5. "Alien Shop"An alien shapeshifter owns a unique curio shop where his merchandise possesses strange powers. And when a down-and-out petty crook (Johnathon Schaech) takes a wallet from the store, he learns the hard way that money not earned comes with a price.6. "Beyond the Veil"Eddie's horrific dreams of alien abduction are making him so crazy he's placed into a mental rehab unit specially tailored for those with similar delusions. What he discovers inside the ward is an alien plot to silence permanently those who talk too much.

Passionada

The story of three generations of Portuguese women in the fishing community of New Bedford MA. Young and beautiful Sally still mourning the loss of her deceased husband has resigned herself to work in the textile mill care for her elderly mother and worry about her beautiful rebellious teenage daughter Vicky. However when British charmer Charlie comes to town he woos Sally until he sweeps her off her feet...That is until she finds out that Charlie is not the person he claimed to be when they met. Jason Isaacs (Black Hawk Down The Patriot) Sophia Milos (TV's "CSI Miami").System Requirements:Running Time 104 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396043190 Manufacturer No: 04319

Unlikely romance is the subject of Passionada, an atmospheric piece just offbeat enough to be likable. Set in the flavorful Portuguese fishing community in New Bedford, the film offers two quirky lovers. The beautiful Sofia Milos plays a skeptical widow, sternly raising a teenage daughter (Emmy Rossum), who nevertheless shows her passionate side when she sings traditional Portuguese fado songs at night. Jason Isaacs, veteran of many villain roles (The Patriot, Peter Pan), is a gambler new to town, who is suitably entranced by this lady's singing (though he must hide his profession if he wants a chance with her). The story has its rocky moments, but director Dan Ireland (The Whole Wide World) lets the actors work up some winning chemistry together, and the sultry soundtrack helps; the fado singing is dubbed by Misia. This will go down easy for romance fans, and you know who you are. --Robert Horton

The Outer Limits - The Death & Beyond Collection

1. "The Second Soul"A dying race of aliens has come to earth to stop its own extinction...by reanimating human corpses. But a government doctor (Mykelti Williamson) senses that there may be more to the aliens' plans than mere survival!2. "The Other Side"Dr. Eberhardt (Ralph Macchio) discovers a way for comatose patients to communicate with each other by interfacing through a computer. But when the curious Eberhardt hooks himself up to the machine, he discovers a cyberspace "paradise" that he may never be able to leave!3. "New Lease"Drs. Houghton (Stephen Lang) and McCamber (Michael Ontkean) can bring the dead back to life through molecular reorganization. But when Houghton is killed by a mugger (Jason Priestley) and reanimated by McCamber, can he bring his "killer" to justice?4. "Essence of Life"After a viral epidemic wipes out most people on Earth, Dr. Seward (Joel Grey) challenges an anti-mourning law by creating an illegal drug that generates cathartic emotions in the user. Will a code-enforcing policeman (Daniel Baldwin) stop him for good?5. "Human Trials"Captain Parkhurst (Jason Gedrick) and three other candidates have volunteered to see who's the fittest to win a spot on a top-secret mission. But as the tests become more life-threatening, Parkhurst realizes that there's more to the trials than meets the eye.6. "Black Box"A top-secret container filled with a deadly bioweapon is missing and the only one who knows where to find it is Brandon (Ron Perlman), a man clinging to life support. Can a military scientist get inside Brandon's head to extract this vital information before the toxins get into the wrong hands?

The Outer Limits (The New Series) - Fantastic Androids & Robots Collection

1. "I, Robot"When a robot named Adam is accused of killing his own creator, it's up to a civil liberties attorney (Leonard Nimoy) to investigate and defend him. Is Adam capable of murder? Or did a military retrofit of the normally docile robot turn him into a ruthless killing machine?2. "The Hunt"Since the ban of hunting animals, man has turned to new game: androids! But the sport gets turned on its head when a pack of androids led by Kel (Doug Savant) decides to fight back. Now the hunters become the hunted in a terrifying game of cat and mouse.3. "Resurrection" Humans are gone. Androids rule the earth. But when a couple of scientific droids (Nick Mancuso, Heather Graham) decide to resurrect man from DNA in a single human hair, they unleash the anger of a military machine hellbent on keeping the species extinct.4. "The Camp"For generations, mankind has existed in concentration-type camps under the brutal watch of an alien enemy. But as conditions worsen, a maverick woman leads a successful uprising that reveals a surprising ? and life-altering ? truth about their foes.5. "Glitch"An "everyman" named Tom gets a terrible shock when he learns that he's not a man at all ? but a highly complex android! Now he's on a quest to find his creator before the military turns him into a cyber-assassin for the government.6. "Small Friends"Gene Morton, a jailed scientist, has created incredible microscopic robots that can fix anything mechanical. But when another inmate sees their amazing abilities, he demands that the microbots either break him from prison...or he's going to break Morton's neck!